Islamists Rally to Support Egypt’s President
Islamists Rally to Support Egypt’s President - Houston Chronicle
Tens of thousands of Islamists waved Egyptian flags and hoisted portraits of President Mohammed Morsi in rallies nationwide Saturday to support his efforts to rush through a new draft constitution despite widespread opposition by secular activists and some in the judiciary.
The demonstrations — the largest turnout of Morsi supporters since he came to office in June— were seen as a test of strength for Islamists seeking to counteract mass opposition protests denouncing the president’s decision to seize near absolute power and the fast-tracking of the draft charter by an Islamist-led assembly ahead of a Constitutional Court decision on Sunday on whether to dissolve the panel.
Morsi says he acted to prevent courts led by holdovers from Hosni Mubarak’s ousted regime from delaying a transition to democracy. But his decision last week to put himself above judicial oversight has plunged the country into turmoil and mobilized an increasingly cohesive opposition leadership of prominent liberal and secular politicians — a contrast to the leaderless youth uprising last year that toppled Mubarak.